Tag Archives: Vindolanda

Next week sees the start of two regular lecture series by two more local groups.

The 2016 Teesside Archaeological Society’s lectures start on Tuesday, 26th January, at 7.30 in Stockton Central Library, Stockton, with a short AGM to be followed by Lauren Wilkinson (Archaeologist & Site Education Officer) from the Vindolanda Trust give a talk on Vindolanda.

The following day the Anniversary Meeting of The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, Wednesday, 27th January, at 6.00 will be at the Mining Institute, Newcastle upon Tyne, and see Matt Perry on “Commemorating the Jarrow Crusade: why the Crusade remains relevant today”.

The Hadrian’s Wall Archaeology Forum is an annual day-conference featuring talks for the general public about new discoveries in the Hadrian’s Wall frontier zone including the Cumbrian coast. This year’s programme features talks on excavation projects at Maryport, Vindolanda, Wallsend, South Shields and Binchester.

This year the event will take place on the 28th November at Queen’s Hall, Hexham, For booking detail see:

Finds from the Roman North and Beyond

The 2015 RFG Spring Meeting is based in Newcastle. It will be a two day conference from lunchtime on the Monday 16th to late afternoon on Tuesday 17th March. It will be held in Rooms 1.04 and 1.06 of the Armstrong Building, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne and is being jointly hosted by RFG and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Artefact Studies of the University (ncl.ac.uk/historical/about/facilities/cias.htm).

There are four sessions of papers, with fourteen illustrated talks, on various aspects of finds from sites throughout the north, and an organised visit to Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths and Museum. This is an excellent opportunity to hear about recent finds and research in the north, as well as to view one of the major museums along Hadrian’s Wall which has undergone major work in the last few years.
Space is limited so early booking is strongly advised. The cost of the meeting is £30 for fully paid up RFG members, £20 for students, £35 non members.

What’s included

Access to all conference sessions, finds and poster viewings.

Teas and coffees as in the programme.

Wine, soft drinks and snacks at the evening reception

Finds Viewing/poster displays/book sales

There is space in the Armstrong Building for finds display and discussion—during tea/coffee breaks. There will be recent finds from Vindolanda and South Shields but further displays are welcome—please indicate on the meeting application form. There will also be space for poster displays and the sale of books etc.

Getting to the Armstrong Building

From Newcastle Railway Station a taxi will cost approximately £5. Transportation from and to Newcastle Railway Station is easiest by Metro (to Haymarket Station) or by any bus to Eldon Square. A city centre map showing the University Campus is on the RFG web site. Travelling by car is not encouraged, but the Armstrong Building is opposite the RVI Hospital and the carpark off Claremont Rd usually has spaces and is not too expensive. Trains to Newcastle are, of course very regular (e.g. Monday 09.00 from KX arrives Newcastle 11.51; Tuesday 16.59 Newcastle arrives KX 19.51 – subject to timetable change). Download the Campus Map here.

Monday Evening Reception and Conference Dinner

There will be a reception for delegates at 17.30 . Following this, at 19.30, there will be a Conference meal, held in ‘the Ottoman Turkish Restaurant’. This must be pre booked. (details on booking). The menu for Monday evening will be placed here in due course.

Annual General Meeting

There will be a short Annual General Meeting for RFG Members on the Tuesday morning. There are three main items for discussion: an RFG Constitution, Establishment of a RFG Grant Fund and future RFG subscriptions. Details will be circulated to all RFG Members prior to the AGM so that those members not able to be there can still have a say in these matters!

Museum Visit

On the Tuesday afternoon there is an opportunity to visit Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths and Museum (www.twmuseums.org.uk/segedunum-roman-fort.html) including an opportunity to scale (or take the lift!) the viewing platform for an excellent view of the remains of the Roman fort and to watch the time lapse video of the building history of the site. There will then be a guided tour of the full scale reconstructed bath house (current repairs permitting) and Hadrian’s Wall reconstruction. There is an additional charge for this event of £6, which includes transport from the Armstrong Building, return to the railway station and admission to the Museum. There will be an opportunity to purchase a snack lunch at the Museum.

Day One : Monday 16th March 2015

Session One : Current Finds Research at The University of Newcastle
Chair : Dr Jane Webster, Senior Lecturer in Historical Archaeology and Head of Archaeology, Department of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Newcastle.
13.30 Dr James Gerrard, Lecturer in Roman Archaeology, Department of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Newcastle. ‘Rethinking the Irchester bowl, again’
14.00 Emma Gooch, MA Student, Department of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Newcastle. ‘A load of old bulls: ‘phallic horns’ in bovine imagery’
14.30 Evan Scherer, PhD Student. Department of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Newcastle. ‘The Use and Abuse of Late Roman Artefacts in Transylvania’

Day Two : Tuesday 17th March 2015

Session Three : Finds from the North
Chair : Justine Bayley, Chairman, Roman Finds Group
09.00 Dr Philippa Walton, ‘Research Fellow, University of Oxford . ‘Cataloguing and analysis of the Roman ‘votive’ assemblage from Piercebridge, County Durham : An Update.’
09.30 Dr Rob Collins Research Associate on the Frontiers of the Roman Empire Digital Humanities Initiative (FREDHI) at Newcastle University ”Great Whittington: New finds identifying a new site in the Wall corridor’
10.00 Frances McIntosh, Curator of Roman Collections, English Heritage /PhD student, Newcastle University’ ‘Clayton; Collector, Conservator and Curator’
10.30 John Cruse, ‘Independent Researcher and York Archaeological Society Quern Co-ordinator ‘Roman Querns in the North – Some Distinctive Regional Types’

11.00 Annual General Meeting/ Tea/Coffee – viewing of finds for non RFG Members

This weekend workshop covers aspects and techniques of archaeological illustration under the personal tuition of Mark Hoyle BA(hon);P.G.C.E.;MAAIS; MIfA http://www.markhoyle.com

The course will look at general techniques and methods of accurately recording small finds including pottery illustration, metal objects, bone, and leatherwork. There will be a selection of objects from the excavations at Vindolanda to handle and draw over the duration of the course.

An archaeological drawing starter pack to use and keep will be provided.

Each booking will receive a voucher for a future visit to the award winning Roman Army Museum.

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A frontier in transition at Vindolanda by Director of Excavations at Vindolanda, Dr Andrew Birley

On the 1st of April in 2013 the Vindolanda Trust started its most ambitious and challenging series of excavations to date, a five year research project under the title of ‘frontiers in transition’. Over the course of its five years, the project will have provided over 2500 opportunities for volunteers to become directly involved in archaeological field work, gaining first-hand experience of the archaeology and history of the world heritage site, as well as places for those who don’t want to directly get their hands dirty in the Northumbrian mud. As the Andrew Birley, the Director of excavations at Vindolanda put it ‘the people who come along and take part on the Vindolanda excavations don’t make up the numbers, they are here to engage with and be an active part of the unfolding story of the history of the site. Frontiers in transition is aimed at unravelling seven centuries of occupation, but more than that, it looks at untangling the potentially disparate experiences of frontier life over such a great amount of time. Vindolanda was not home to one community, it was home to many communities and through this project we aim to let them all have their voice.’

The project involves excavations in three areas; the south-eastern quadrant of the last stone fort, deep excavations below the 3rd century vicus and a widening of the exploratory work in the field to the north of the Stanegate road where two new Roman forts have recently been discovered. The first of which may pre-date all of the other Roman remains at Vindolanda.

After the first successful year in 2013, which focused on the post-Roman and late Roman remains within the last stone forts, 2014 will widen out to look at all three areas, starting from the 7th of April and running five days a week until the 20th of September. As usual, the www.Vindolanda.com website opened up on the 1st of November this year to take bookings for the excavations in 2014, and 500 places were fully booked in under 20 minutes. This shows both the popularity of Vindolanda but also the great enthusiasm that remains for people to actively take part and become involved in field work on the northern frontier of Roman Britain. Of course, not everyone is able to excavate, or indeed wants to excavate, and as a response the Vindolanda Trust is widening its access through a series of excellent post-excavation courses and training, from archaeological illustration to photography and Roman cookery. This gives people the chance to engage with the work in many different ways and to get the benefit of the research that is taking place at Vindolanda.

For more information about the most recent Vindolanda research project and a complete list of archaeological related courses being run at Vindolanda next year check out the www.vindolanda.com website for regular updates.